Give and Take

Conversations at the Heart of the Matter

About the show

Someone once observed that if Howard Stern and Krista Tippett had a love child, it would be Scott Jones. Scott liked that.

At "Give and Take,” Scott Jones talks with artists, authors, theologians, and political pundits about the lens through which they experience life. With empathy, humor, and a deep knowledge of religion, current events, and pop culture, Scott engages his guests in a free-flowing conversation that's entertaining, unexpected, occasionally bizarre, and oftentimes enlightening. He likes people, and it shows.

Past interviewees include Mark Oppenheimer, Melissa Febos, David French, Miroslav Volf, Dan Savage, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Rob Bell, and (yes) Krista Tippett.

Scott is the former host and producer of the popular Mockingcast podcast (https://themockingcast.fireside.fm) and an in-demand consultant on all things “pod.” He’s also the co-host, with Bill Borror, of New Persuasive Words (https://npw.fireside.fm). Scott is also a prolific writer, a frequent conference speaker, a PhD candidate in Theology, and an ordained minister.

Give and Take on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 90: The Ashokan Way, with Gail Straub

    March 23rd, 2018  |  42 mins 54 secs

    My guest is Gail Straub. Gail is the Executive Director of the Empowerment Institute, which she co-founded in 1981. Her most recent book is "The Ashokan Way: Landscape's Path into Consciousness."

  • Episode 89: Reconstructing The Gospel: Finding Freedom From Slaveholder Religion, with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

    March 21st, 2018  |  43 mins 19 secs

    My guest is Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. He is a celebrated spiritual writer and sought-after speaker. A native of North Carolina, he is a graduate of Eastern University and Duke Divinity School. His newest book is "Reconstructing The Gospel: Finding Freedom From Slaveholder Religion." In it he argues that just as Reconstruction after the Civil War worked to repair a desperately broken society, our compromised Christianity requires a spiritual reconstruction that undoes the injustices of the past. Wilson-Hartgrove traces his journey from the religion of the slaveholder to the Christianity of Christ. Reconstructing the gospel requires facing the pain of the past and present, from racial blindness to systemic abuses of power. Grappling seriously with troubling history and theology, Wilson-Hartgrove recovers the subversiveness of the gospel that sustained the church through centuries of slavery and oppression, from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement and beyond.

    He lives with his family at the Rutba House, a Christian community and house of hospitality, in Durham, North Carolina, where he directs School for Conversion.

  • Episode 88: Democracy In Exile, with Daniel Bessner

    March 20th, 2018  |  1 hr 30 secs

    My guest is Daniel Bessner. Daniel is the Anne H.H. and Kenneth B. Pyle Assistant Professor in American Foreign Policy in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. His new book is "Democracy In Exile: Hans Speier and the Rise of the Defense Intellectual."

  • Episode 86: The Gender Effect, with Kathryn Moeller

    March 13th, 2018  |  1 hr 54 secs

    My guest is Kathryn Moeller. She is Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies and an affiliate of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her newest book is "The Gender Effect: Capitalism, Feminism and the Corporate Politics of Development."

  • Episode 85: The Character of Virtue: Letters to a Godson, with Stanley Hauerwas

    March 7th, 2018  |  54 mins 27 secs

    My guest is Stanley Hauerwas. He is Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law at Duke University. His most recent book is "The Character of Virtue: Letters to a Godson."

  • Episode 84: Paul: An Apostle's Journey, with Douglas Campbell

    February 27th, 2018  |  57 mins 45 secs

    My guest is Douglas Campbell. He's a professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. His most recent book, "Paul: An Apostle's Journey", invites the reader to relive the story of Paul's action-packed ministry, and follow the the development of Paul's thought throughout both his physical and spiritual travels.

  • Episode 83: Age of Discovery: Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Our New Renaissance, with Chris Kutarna

    February 23rd, 2018  |  1 hr 7 mins

    My guest is Chris Kutarna. Chris is the co-author of Age of Discovery: Navigating the Storms of Our Second Renaissance, a best-selling, internationally acclaimed book published by Bloomsbury and St Martin’s Press. Among other predictions, Chris publicly foresaw the outcome of the United Kingdom’s 2016 referendum on EU membership (Brexit) and the 2016 election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEZJUKA36hA&t=9s)

  • Episode 82: Billy Graham: A Grandson's Reflection, with Tullian Tchividjian

    February 22nd, 2018  |  40 mins 20 secs

    Tullian Tchividjian is the grandson of Billy Graham. He's written several award winning books. He's been a celebrated preacher and pastor. In recent years he's not just preached the message of grace, he's also confessed his deep need for it amidst his own struggles. In this episode he reflects on the memory of his recently deceased grandfather, Billy Graham.

  • Episode 81: How To Break Up With Your Phone, with Catherine Price

    February 15th, 2018  |  51 mins 59 secs

    My guest is Catherine Price. She's an award winning writer and science journalist. Her most recent is entitled "How To Break Up With Your Phone."

  • Episode 80: Breaking The Ruhls, with Larry Ruhl

    February 10th, 2018  |  48 mins 37 secs

    My guest is Larry Ruhl. His first book, Breaking the Ruhls, is a profoundly personal account of the impact of complex trauma on a man’s life.

  • Episode 79: Catholic Modern: The Challenge of Totalitarianism and the Remaking of the Catholic Church, with James Chappel

    February 8th, 2018  |  1 hr 1 min

    My guest is James Chappel. He's a professor of History at Duke University and his first book, "Catholic Modern", examines the Catholic Church's changing relationship with modernity in the 20th century.

  • Episode 78: Love And Trouble, with Claire Dederer

    January 24th, 2018  |  1 hr 8 mins

    My guest is Claire Dederer. Claire is the author of two critically acclaimed memoirs: "Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning" and "Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses", which was a New York Times bestseller. Poser has been translated into 11 languages, optioned for television by Warner Bros., and adapted for the stage.

  • Episode 77: Closing A Start Up Church, with Ryan Egli

    January 19th, 2018  |  43 mins 56 secs

    My guest is Ryan Egli. Ryan Egli is the Director of Enrollment Management and Marketing at Biblical Theological Seminary. He planted a church two years ago that had to close its doors. On this episode he shares that story.

  • Episode 76: Why the Last Jedi is more "Spiritual" than "Religious", with Chaim Saiman

    January 16th, 2018  |  1 hr 14 mins

    My guest is Chaim Saiman. He's a Professor of Law at Villanova University Law School, and is an expert in Law and Religion and Jewish Legal theory. He also wrote a fascinating piece in the Atlantic about the most recent Star Wars film. It's called "Why The Last Jedi Is More 'Spiritual' Than 'Religious'."

  • Episode 75: The Dream and The Preacher King, with Kenyatta Gilbert

    January 15th, 2018  |  41 mins 59 secs

    My guest is the Reverend Dr. Kenyatta R. Gilbert. Kenyatta is Associate Professor of Homiletics at the Howard University School of Divinity. He earned his B.A. in Political Science from Baylor University and both his M.Div. and Ph.D. in Practical Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary. We talked about the legacy of Martin Luther King and what it means today.

  • Episode 74: UnTrumped, with Doug Pagitt

    January 10th, 2018  |  57 mins 52 secs

    Doug Pagitt is an Author, Speaker, Podcaster, Organizer, Pastor, Ultra-Marathoner, Goodness Conspirator & Possibility Evangelist. He recently did a limited run podcast with another Pastor who voted for Donald Trump and still remains a Trump supporter. The dialogue is honest, passionate and generally fascinating.